Women Speakers take action on maternal, newborn and child health
16-17 JULY 2010 | BERN, SWITZERLAND
Organizer: Swiss Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Event dates: 16-17 July 2010
Venue: Bern, Switzerland
16 JULY | BERN -- More than 20 women speakers of parliament gathered in the Swiss capital for a lively two-day meeting on the role of parliamentarians in taking action on maternal and child survival. PMNCH launched its new publication, co-published with the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Taking the Lead: Parliamentarians Engage with Maternal, Newborn & Child Health.The meeting was held in the assembly hall of the Swiss national parliament and was co-chaired by Switzerland's two women speakers: Pascale Bruderer Wyss, President of the National Council, and Erika Forster-Vannini, President of the Council of States. The keynote address was delivered by Bert Koenders, former Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands. The meeting focused on five key themes central to achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5: building national health systems; improving equitable access to health services; funding for MDGs 4 and 5: women's empowerment; and raising political will.
Flavia Bustreo, Director of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health, introduced Taking the Lead, speaking about the critical role of parliamentarians in overseeing legislation and policy to promote equitable access to care, and in allocating resources needed to deliver that care. In doing so, Dr Bustreo introduced key elements of the UN Secretary-General's Joint Action Plan for Women and Children, to be launched at the MDG Summit on 22 September in New York. The Joint Action Plan calls for accelerated effort to improve the health of women and children, with parliamentarians playing a key role in the accountability process.
Please find Dr Bustreo’s speech as well as other presentations from the event below.
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Agenda of the 6th Annual Meeting of the Women Speakers of Parliament
pdf, 97kb -
Presentation of the publication Taking the Lead by Dr Flavia Bustreo, Director PMNCH
pdf, 266kb -
Statement by Hon. Elizabeth F.Y Renner, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Gambia
pdf, 238kb -
Presentation by Hon. Rose Mukantabana, Présidente de la Chambre des Députés, Parlement du Rwanda
pdf, 133kb -
Address by Hon. Dilorum Tashmuhamedova, Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan
pdf, 93kb -
Address by Mrs Tong Thi Phong, Vice President of the Viet Nam National Assembly
pdf, 153kb - Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC), Parliament of Pakistan
- Link to the publication launched at the event: Taking the Lead - Parliamentarians Engage with Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
- Link here to the outcome document and other related information on the IPU Sixth Women’s Speakers’ Conference
- IPU Third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, 20-21 July 2010 Geneva, Switzerland
- Photo gallery